Anthony Taylor talks the challenging of refereeing, VAR, abuse, mental health and the impact it’s all had on his family.
In an interview with the BBC, he said this is driven by increased scrutiny from social media, technology, and multiple camera angles.
Taylor acknowledges the pressure and scrutiny but emphasised that the quest for perfection in refereeing is unrealistic, as decisions are often subjective.
The Premier League referee reflects on his 17-year career, having officiated 400 matches, then addressed the lack of balanced critique, noting that negative narratives and abuse, especially post-game, create a harmful environment for referees and impact their mental health.
Taylor recounts the incident at Budapest airport after the 2023 Europa League final, where he faced abuse while with family, linking it to criticism from figures like Jose Mourinho.
He highlights the broader issue of verbal abuse in football, even at grassroots levels, and calls for more responsible commentary from pundits and media.
On VAR, Taylor notes it raised expectations of perfection but hasn’t eliminated subjectivity in decisions. Despite challenges, he remains passionate, enjoys unwinding by watching National League football, and aims to continue refereeing, with a goal of officiating at the 2026 World Cup.
“There’s certainly been moments where you’re thinking ‘is it worth it?’”
Top Premier League ref Anthony Taylor tells me about his concerns over the abuse & scrutiny facing match officials. @WMHDay https://t.co/6HqvZlbGGp pic.twitter.com/VVjqN8ANhr
— Dan Roan (@danroan) October 10, 2025
Interviewer: “Taken charge of 400 Premier League matches during your career. Is it hard to believe sometimes that you’re now among the most experienced match officials there’s been in the English top flight?”
Anthony Taylor: “It’s certainly been a long journey. This is my 17th season referee in Premier League football and the game certainly evolved over that period of time.
“Lots of challenges, lots of different challenges as time goes through and it is sometimes difficult to believe but actually when it comes down to it, it’s one of the best jobs in the world.”
Interviewer: “You’ve been doing it for so long, do you no longer get nervous before matches or big matches or does that still creep in?”
Anthony Taylor: “The level of scrutiny that exists in such a high pressurised sporting environment means that it’s a very fine line between being nervous in a positive way or being fearful of making a mistake which then obviously could impact performance.”
Interviewer: “And has that scrutiny, that expectation level intensified, would you say, over recent years?”
Anthony Taylor: “I think it’s evolved with greater focus on social media, greater introduction of technology, more camera angles and so we have to evolve with that expectation.
“But also I think the game has to evolve with that expectation because otherwise people have unrealistic expectations.
“And that has a significant impact at both ends of the pyramid, both at the elite level and at grassroots.
“The amount of scrutiny and the amount of analysis and chat around Premier League football or international football even these days is everybody has a quest for perfection and in reality perfection doesn’t exist.”
Interviewer: “There’ll be some fans, Anthony, no doubt, who will say it’s fair to expect scrutiny, the match officials are paid to do a job, the standards on occasion aren’t there, there’s serious consequences.”
Anthony Taylor: “You can have scrutiny and you can have critique but it’s very rarely balanced. And it’s not always, nobody really talks about the positive side of things a lot uh of time these days either.
Interviewer: “Given the scrutiny, have you ever considered, you know, stopping being a ref? And if you’d known in your younger years what it would entail, would you have thought twice about it?
Anthony Taylor: “No, I don’t think I’ve ever thought, that’s it, I’m done. There’s certainly been moments, I won’t be alone in this, there’s certainly been moments where you’re thinking, is it worth it?
“And certainly moments where you’re thinking what’s being said is completely unfair.
“And for sure, there will be people who’ve had the doubts about carrying on. But that then goes back to what we were saying before about the environment that’s created.
“I don’t think I’ve ever got to the point where I think, no, I’m going to stop because why should I let somebody who’s been abusive determine what I do?
“There’s not one person in this world that likes being criticised.
“So I’ve said many times before, our role is something that people are more than willing to have opinions of and very few people are willing to have a true understanding or even having a go at being a ref at any level of the game.
“And so when we take that fear factor of making a mistake, being told you’re not very good, and if you’re continually told you’re not very good, now whether that be by people in the media, by pundits, or even ex-officials who should have a better understanding and be more balanced in that then yeah, people’s mental health could potentially suffer.”
Interviewer: “So what is your message then to pundits, ex-officials who are now in the media, journalists?”
Anthony Taylor: “Referees don’t go out onto a field of play to deliberately to annoy people or pluck a decision or a rule out of the air just for the fun of it.
“They make decisions on the basis of guidance that we’re asked to follow by stakeholders in the game and of course sometimes those decisions aren’t always universally accepted.
“Now whether sometimes the criticism is levelled the guidance or the rules rather than the ref as an individual, I understand that.
“But we need to have a better appreciation of what you say or what you write can have a significant impact on that individual and how they feel.
“The length that people go to post-game with a lot of things now to spread false narratives, to spread malicious conspiracy theories, to even simply say a decision is wrong using the wrong laws of the game or the wrong protocols that are in place, to choose not to understand or speak the truth in these respects.
“It can certainly do more harm than good and it creates a hugely negative environment for people to operate in.
“The football in culture in general has a very archaic psychological tactic that we need to win this game at all costs.
“In what realm is an adult shouting verbal abuse to a referee or a young player who is under 18 years of age acceptable?
“In football it is. Because every single weekend you can go to any local park across the UK and you can see a parent on the sideline verbally abusing a young referee.
“You could see a coach shouting at a young player because they haven’t scored a goal or taken a bad free kick.
“Now that’s not an environment conducive to people getting better and enjoying.”
Interviewer: “I must ask you about what happened after the Europa League final in 2023. What are your reflections on what happened in Budapest airport after that match?”
Anthony Taylor says his family have not been to a game he has officiated since the abuse they faced after the Europa League final in 2023. pic.twitter.com/UkaAu4ity9
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 10, 2025
Anthony Taylor: “That’s for sure the worst situation I’ve dealt with in terms of abuse. Not only because I was travelling with family members at the time, but it also highlights the impact of people’s behaviour on others.
“And so, there’s always scrutiny around big high profile matches. But even in a match like that where there was actually no major mistakes in the game, and we’re talking about because a team has lost the game, we’re trying to shift focus on for somebody to blame. And for me, that’s a great source of disappointment, frustration, anger.”
Interviewer: “How traumatic was it, given that you were with family, and how fearful were you in those moments?”
Anthony Taylor: “Yeah, I mean, it makes you reflect back on whether you made a mistake travelling with your family in the first place.
Interviewer: “And has that meant that they don’t now come to big matches that you…”
Anthony Taylor: “Yeah, very much so. They haven’t been to one since.”
Interviewer: “Did you think there was a link between the criticism that you received by Jose Mourinho following that match and then what happened in the airport? Has it influenced inevitably on the behaviour of fans?”
Anthony Taylor: “Yeah, I think if we’re being honest, I think it does, yeah.”
Interviewer: “Away from football… do you worry about being out and about? If you’re recognised, do you try and keep a low profile?”
Anthony Taylor: “Most people you encounter when you’re out and about are generally good. And even those who may try and have some banter, then I’m always willing to try and have a conversation and help educate and share opinions and listen to what they’ve got to say.
“And that’s fine, that’s part of, like you said before, about scrutiny and everything. That’s fine as part of the game.
“The unacceptable part is when we start abusing people unnecessarily, when they genuinely don’t deserve it, or the criticism, it becomes excessive.”
Interviewer: “What has been the effect of VAR, do you think, on the nature of the scrutiny you face?”
Anthony Taylor: “It brought this expectation of perfectionism, that it would solve absolutely everybody’s problems and it would be utopia.
“Football is full of subjectivity. There’s very few decisions that are black and white factual. So of course you’ve got the ball over the goal line, offside.
“I remember going back before the introduction of VAR and there was a lot of talk, particularly in the media, about how we need technology to help the officials make the correct decisions.
“I think a week didn’t go by where TV programmes were not drawing mythical offside lines and saying how’s an assistant referee missed this offside offence?
“And then when the technology was introduced everybody’s going crazy, the goals are being disallowed for toenails or armpits being offside. So the game flip-flops sometimes which doesn’t address the subjectivity.
“You could apply that logic to goal line technology. People say, give the benefit of the doubt to the attackers, if it’s just offside, we still allow the goal. So we’re going to do that with the ball over the goal line as well.
“If the ball goes at one centimetre over the goal line, does that mean we’re not going to give the goal? Come on.”
Interviewer: “How do you unwind away from football, Anthony, away from officiating anyway? Is there something, what techniques and what do you do to relax and get away from it?”
Anthony Taylor: “Other than just generally spending time with family and walking the dog. I obviously watch a fair amount of National League football when I can to watch Altrincham in their games and as you probably can testify it’s a slightly different experience watching football in the fifth tier.
“Because I obviously grew up and went to school in the town and from an early age I was watching games in the Old Vauxhall Conference, which back then there was literally no grass on the pitches.
“And I really enjoy the type of football that’s played a lot of the time, but I think you’ll find at National League most teams are pretty evenly matched, which always makes the games quite compelling to watch.”
Interviewer: “And how long do you envision yourself continuing for as a referee?”
Anthony Taylor: “I’m 47 next week, so that’s quite old for somebody to be operating at this level running around after people a lot younger than you.
“But again, the most important thing is, you know, I still enjoy the job I do. And from the physical side of things, whilst it’s much more of a challenge now to maintain the levels of fitness and to rest and recover.
“The whole focus is trying to make sure that we get to have two refereeing teams at the World Cup next year in America.”
